Who do you think could have played Chani’s role in Dune better than Zendaya? If no other actress comes to your mind, let me tell you that Jenna Ortega had possibly auditioned for the role.
Jenna Ortega might have tried out for Zendaya’s part in Dune when she was 15 years old.
She said in a recent interview that she has a hunch about auditioning for a part in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation approximately six years ago. In an interview with Buzzfeed, the Scream actress talked about her joy of coming face-to-face with the renowned director when it was still in the development phase.
Now 21, Ortega thinks she read for Dune at around 15. She loved the movie and its series, and she was excited to meet Villeneuve because he’s one of her beloved directors.
She also believed that the character she auditioned for was Chani whom Zendaya eventually got to play.
At the time, Ortega argued that all the role details were being kept under wraps and nothing was confirmed at any point during casting. She said, “I think it was Chani. I think it was Zendaya’s. But they weren’t saying that. Everything was very secret.”
Zendaya, 27, reportedly joined the Dune cast in January of 2019, which indicates that months before this event happened Villeneuve could have been auditioning actors including probably Ortega, 21, herself.
But that had not been the first time Ortega had auditioned for roles at 15. She has worked in the industry since she was a child. In a recent New York Times interview, Ortega looked back on her early career admitting that sometimes she wishes she hadn’t started so young but ultimately has no regrets and wouldn’t change anything.
The Wednesday sensation recently teamed up with Espresso hitmaker, Sabrina Carpenter for her Taste music video which largely alludes to Death Becomes Her and Scream movies. This unexpected collaboration as part of Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet studio album has racked up almost 30 million views in no time.
Jenna Ortega is currently promoting Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, her latest movie. In his 1988 comedy’s sequel by Tim Burton, she portrays Astrid Deetz. This is another project from Ortega working alongside Burton. They previously collaborated for Netflix’s Wednesday. The film will hit theaters on the 6th of September.
